Dental bridge



Feb. 9, 1954 l. QUELLMAN 2,668,353

DENTAL BRIDGE Filed June 29, 1951 INVENTR Quellmanr Patented Feb. 9,:1954

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DENTAL BRIDGE Irving Quellman, New York, N.Y.

Application June 29, 1951, Serial No. 234,361

9 Claims. (Cl. 326) This invention relates to dental bridges, moreparticularly of the iixed type.

As conducive to an understanding of the invention it is noted that theabutment teeth on each side oi the gap in the mouth in which a bridge isto be placed are often not parallel and cannot be made so due tolimitations in the precision with which such teeth are ground by thedentist and due to the degree oi' inclination of the abutment teethwhich would require such an amount of grinding to effect parallelismthat the nerves of the teeth might be aected. It is therefore extremelydiicult if not impossible properly to install a xed bridge having crownsat each end which t over such abutment teeth as the inclinat tion of oneof said abutment teeth with respect to the other would prevent properseating of the crowns of the fixed bridge on the associated abutmentteeth with resultant space between the rim of the mouth oi the crown andthe gum into which food might collect with resultant decay of saidabutment teeth.

It is also to be noted that even though the anchoring or abutment teethon each side of the gap in the mouth in which the bridge is to beplaced, are carefully prepared for the anchoring portions of the bridge,which may be inlays or crowns that are to be cemented on theabutment'teeth to hold the bridge in place, and even though an accuratecast and model is made, due to the expansion and contraction 'of thematerials used, the inlaysor crowns, as the case may be, on each end ofthe bridge respectively may become relatively displaced so that theyboth will not accurately seat on the abutment teeth. As `a result, wheninlays are used, there may be a slight gap between the edges of at leastone of the inlays and the tooth, or when crowns are used at least one ofsuch crowns may not reach the gum line and snugly encompass the abutmenttooth with the resuilt that food particlesmay collect beneath the inlayor crown with resultant decay of the abutment tooth.

Where the bridge is capable of lateral displacement in the mouth, itwill be very uncomfortable to the user and prevent proper chewing. Inaddition, such displacement may become aggravated with repeated usecausing excessive pressure on the abutment teeth with consequentdisplacemen and possible loss of such teeth.

Where bridgesare used which have clamps or other elements protrudingtherefrom, such elements are likely to injure the gum or tongue of theuser and in addition food particles may collect therebeneath withresultant development of disagreeable odors and decay. Y v

1t is accordingly among the objects yof the in- 'vention to provide, insituations where a removable bridge is indicated or a permanent bridgecould be applied only by complicated andv costly procedure withobjectionable building up of the abutment teeth or anchoring portion ofthe bridge due to lack oi parallelism of the abutment teeth, asubstantially permanent dental bridge that may readily be fabricated bya dentist or dental technician and has but few parts, which is strong,durable and non-corrosive and not likelyto become deranged, and whenonce installed does not have to be removed for cleaning orsterilization, which bridge may readily be installed in the mouth, usingsubstantially conventional crowns or inlays on the abutment teeth evenwhen the latter are not parallel, without need for many ttings andgrinding which give discomfort to the patient, yet will accurately t inplace with no space between the abutment teeth and the anchoringportions of the bridge mounted thereon, thereby eliminating thepossibility of decay of such abutment teeth due to the collection offood particles between the anchoring portion of the bridge and theabutment tooth, which bridge is devoid of protruding clasps or otherelements that may injure the mouth of the user and which, when onceinstalled, will be securely and permanently retained in place withoutlikelihood oi4 lateral displacement which might affect the bite of theuser and cause excessive pressures to be exerted against the abutmentteeth with resultant injury to and possible loss of such teeth.

According to the invention from its broader aspect, the dental bridgecomprises at least one artificial tooth having an anchoring member,which may be a crown or inlay, associated therewith and rigidly alixedthereto on one side therejof. The artificial tooth desirably has alocking member mounted therein so as to extend outwardly from the otherside wall of the tooth in a plane substantially parallel to the bitingsurface of the tooth and said locking member seats in a socket formed ina second anchoring member such as a crown or an inlay, the dimensions ofthe socket and the locking member being so related that although thelocking member is free to move longitudinally and rotate in said socket,it will substantially be restrained from lateral displacement therein.

More speciiically according to one embodiment of the invention, thelocking member desirably comprises a spring urged plunger slidablymounted in said articial tooth and having its longitudinal movementoutwardly of the tooth limited by means of an internal projection in thetooth which coacts with the plunger so that the outer end thereof willproject only sufiiciently to seat in said socket.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more ofvarious'possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the upper portion of a mouthshowing a plurality of artioial teeth mounted according to oneembodiment of the invention,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a detail longitudinal sectional view on a larger scale takenalong line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view on a larger scale showing thelocking assembly,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the upper portion of the mouthshowing another embodiment of the invention incorporated Yin a bridgehaving a single artcial tooth,

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line 3--6 of Fig. 5,and

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view another embodiment of theinvention.

, Referring now to the drawings, the embodiment of the dental bridgeshown in Figs. 1 to 4 desirably comprises a plurality of articial teeth,illustratively three in number designated l2 and |3 which may be made ofany suitable material such as plastic. The tooth has an anchoring ofstill member l5, illustratively a crown of conventional' type. rigidlyaixed thereto by means oi a lateral extension i3 on said crown which ismolded into the tooth when the latter is formed. As the formation ofsuch teeth and crown is well known to those skilled in the art, it willnot be described.

The tooth |3 has a lateral bore l therein through the side wall I3thereof adjacent the biting surface I9 and substantially parallel to thelatter. Afxed in said bore |i in any suitable manner, such as by moldingwhen the plastic tooth is formed, is a sleeve 2l desirably ofnoncorrosive material such as an alloy of gold and piatinum. The sleeve2| has a wall 22 at one end and its open end 23 is substantially flushwith the side wall |8 of tooth I3.

Slidably mounted in sleeve 2| is a locking f member, preferably aplunger or latch 24 also desirably of an alloy of gold and platinum. The

-plunger desirably has a diameter but slightly less than the innerdiameter of the sleeve so that it may freely siide therein, but will berestrained from lateral displacement. The plunger is norvmally urged outof the open end 23 of the sleeve by means of a coil spring 25,preferably of stainless spring steel, compressed between end wall 22 andthe adjacent end 2t of plunger 24. Suitable means are desirably providedto limit the outward -movement of the plunger under the urging of coilspring 25. Such means may comprise a pin 2 vextending substantiallyradially into sleeve 2| through an opening 28 in the wall thereof andinto an annular groove 29 formed in the plunger, the pin being entirelycontained within the sleeve so that it does not protrude therefrom anddesirably being tapered so that when` driven into opening 28 it willsecurely be retained in position.

Associated with plunger 24 is a cup 3| also preferably of anon-corrosive alloy of gold and platinum. The cup 3| has an internaldiameter but slightly greater than the diameter of the plunger so thatthe front end 32 of the latter may freely slide into the cup and rotatetherein, but is restrained from lateral displacement therein. The cup 3|is desirably rigidly mounted as by casting in a socket 33 in ananchoring member, illustratively a crown 34 of conventional type anddesirably extends laterally in said crown so that its mouth 35 is ushwith the side wall 35 thereof.

The groove 29 in plunger 24 is of such width that when the side wall 31thereof abuts against pin 2T as shown in Fig. 3, the front end 32 of the4 plunger will project beyond the open end of the sleeve 2| into cup 3|with a portion of such front end 32 in advance of the groove 29 stillencompassed by said sleeve. As a result, even in projected position theplunger will still be restrained from lateral displacement.

In the fabrication of the bridge shown in Figs. l to 4 inclusive, theabutment teeth 4| and 42 are prepared to receive a crown and animpression is taken of the prepared teeth 4|, 42 as well as the spacetherebetween in which the artificial teeth l2 and I3 are to bepositioned. As the preparation of the teeth 4| and 42 for this purpose,as -wellas the taking of the impression, is well known to those skilledin the art, it will not be described.

'Ihe plunger 24 and coil spring 2 5 are positioned in the sleeve 2| andthe tapered pin 2l is forced into the opening 28 so that its inner endwill be positioned in the annular groove 23 in the plunger. The portionof the pin protruding from the exterior of the sleeve is thereuponbroken away. The sleeve and its contained plunger and spring are moldedinto tooth and the cup 3| is cast into the side wall 3S of crown 34 asabove described.

In installing the bridge shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the crown 34 which ispreviously filled with suitable cement is positioned over abutment tooth42 and pressed Vin place in conventional manner so that it will seat inthe position shown in Fig. `2 with the rim 43 of the mouth of the crownagainst the gum line. After the cement in crown 34 has hardened and thecrown is firmly affixed to the abutment tooth 42, the teeth Il, I2 andi3 and crown I5 are positioned in the space between abutment teeth 4|,42 with the crown l5 which is lled with cement aligned with tooth 4|.The artificial teeth and crown l5 are then pressed into the gap betweenteeth 4| and 42 so that the crown l5 may encompass abutment tooth 4|. Asthe artificial teeth move into the gap, the end 32 of the plunger willabut against the edge 44 of crown 34 and be cammed into sleeve 2|. Whenthe crown l5 has properly seated on tooth 4| so that its rim 45 isagainst the gum line, the plunger 24 will snap into the socket 3| tolock the artificial teeth in position.

With the above construction it is apparent that even if the abutmentteeth 4|, 42 are not parallel, as shown in Fig. 2, both crowns willproperly seat on the associated abutment teeth and the bridge will besecurely and permanently affixed in place with no space between the rimsof the crowns and the gum line into which food might coliect withresultant decay of the abutment teeth.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and the dental bridge desirablycomprises an articial tooth 5| which may be made of any suitablematerial and also desirably is of plastic. The tooth 5| has an anchoringmember 52, illustratively an inlay of conventional type, rigidly afiiXedthereto by means of a lateral extension 53 on said inlay which is moldedinto the tooth 5| when the latter is formed.

The tooth 5| has a lateral bore 54 therein through the side wall 55thereof adjacent the biting surface 55 and substantially parallel to thelatter. Ailixed in said bore 54 in any suitable manner, such as bymolding when the plastic tooth is,v formed, and extending laterallyoutwardly from the side wall 55 of tooth 5| is a locking and platinum.

Associated with pin 51 is a cup 59 also preferably of a non-corrosivealloy of gold and platinum. The cup 59 has an internal diameter butslightly greater than the diameter of the pin 51 so that the latter mayfreely slide into the cup, but is restrained from lateral displacementtherein. The cup 59 is desirably rigidly mounted as by casting in asocket 6I in an anchoring member, illustratively an inlay 62 ofconventional type and desirably extends laterally in said inlay so thatits mouth 63 is flush with the side wall 64 thereof.

In the fabrication of the bridge shown in'liigs.

taken of the prepared teeth 66, 61 as well as the space therebetween inwhich the artificial tooth 5I is to be positioned. As the preparation ofthe teeth for this purpose as well as the taking of the impression iswell known to those skilled in the art, it will not be described.

In installing the bridge including inlays 52 and 62 and the tooth 5I,the outer end of the pin 51 is inserted into the cup 59 which islongitudinally aligned therewith, in which position the biting surfacesof the inlays and tooth will lie in substantially the same plane asshown in Figs. 5 and 6. The assembled bridge is then positioned in themouth of the patient so that the inlays are over the abutment teeth 66and 61 which have been previously covered with a suitable cement and thebridge is pressed in place.

By reason of the longitudinal and rotary displacement afforded by thelocking assembly between inlay 62 and tooth 5|, the two inlaysaut-omatically adjust themselves as they are pressed into place so thatthey both will accurately seat in the previously prepared abutment teeth66 and 61 with no space between the edges of the inlays and the bitingsurfaces of the teeth.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 7, parts corresponding to those shown inFigs. 5 and 6 have the same reference numerals primed. In thisembodiment the locking assembly is shown incorporated in a bridge havinga plurality of teeth positioned, for example, in the front of the mouth.

As shown, the bridge desirably comprises a plurality of artificial teethillustratively four in number designated 1I, 12, 13 and 14. The teethare desirably assembled in two sets, each having a pair of teeth 1I, 12and 13, 14 and a crown 15, 16 rigidly aii'ixed respectively to the sidesof teeth 1I and 14. As the formation of such teeth and crown andassembly thereof is well known to those skilled in the art, it will notbe described. The tooth 12 has a pin 51 mounted therein in the mannerpreviously described, so that it extends laterally outward from the sidewall 11 of tooth 12 adjacent the biting surface 18 thereof andsubstantially parallel to the latter. The tooth 13 has a cup 59 mountedtherein as by molding when the tooth is formed, with the mouth of thecup flush with the side wall 19 of said tooth 13 also adjacent thebiting surface thereof.

In installing the bridge shown in Fig. 7, the end of the pin 51extending from tooth 12 is inserted into cup 59 which is longitudinallyaligned therewith and the bridge is positioned in the mouth of thepatient so that the crowns 15, 16 may .be pressed onto the previouslyprepared abutment teeth 8 I, 82 and retained thereon by suitable cement.

As the pairs of artificial teeth 1 I, 12 and 13, 14v are capable ofrelative longitudinal and rotary 6 movement, the crowns automaticallyadjust themselves as they are pressed into place so that they both willaccurately fit on thev previously prepared abutment teeth 8|, 82 with nospace between the gum line and the rim 83 of the mouth of the crown intowhich food may collect.

By reason of the positioning of the locking assembly adjacent the bitingsurface 18 of the artificial teeth 12, 13 there will be no relativePivotal movement between the sets of teeth 1I, 12 and 13, 14 whichmight, if it occurred, exert leverage against the crowns to displace theassociated abutment teeth with possible injury thereto.

It is to be noted that the abutment teeth 8| and 82 of the embodimentshown in Fig. 7 are substantially parallel and hence, the two sets ofteeth 1 I, 12 and 13, 14 with their attached crowns may be assembled asabove described and positioned in the mouth. Where, however, theabutment teeth are not parallel as shown in Fig. 2, both crowns couldnot be properly positioned on the abutment teeth simultaneously and thespring urged plunger assembly should be used in place of the fixed pin51. To install the bridge of Fig. '1 with a spring urged plunger whenthe abutment teeth 16, 8| are not parallel would merely require thatfirst the set of teeth 13, 14 be aixed on abutment tooth 16 inconventional manner and then the set of teeth 1I, 12, which would carrythe plunger, be positioned on abutment tooth 8| so that the plungerwould cam into the cup 59 in tooth 13 to lock the bridge in place.

. As the outer end of the pin and plunger in all embodiments herein ritswith close tolerance in the cup and also in the sleeve, there Wllbe norelative lateral displacement between the abutment tooth -42 andartificial tooth I3 shown in Figs. 1 to 4; between abutment tooth 61 andartificial tooth 5I shown in Figs. 5 and 6, or between artificial teeth12 and 13 shown in Fig. 1. Hence the bite of the user will be proper atall times.

It is of course to be understood that the crown and the inlay areinterchangeable and either crowns or inlays or one of each could beused.

The constructions herein permit the slight longitudinal give affordedwith natural teeth by reason of the relative longitudinal displacementafforded by the locking mechanism and hence there will be nouncomfortable rigidity present when the user bites into food.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and method, andmany apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could bemade without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended thatall matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A dental bridge comprising at least one artificial tooth, a sleeveextending laterally inward from'one side of said tooth substantiallyparallel to the biting surface thereof and completely contained in saidtooth, a locking member slidably mounted in said sleeve, resilient meansin said sleeve normally urging said locking member out of said sleeve,means on said sleeve to limit the outward movement ofv said lockingmember, a cup to receive the outer end of said locking member and meansrigidly mounting said cup.

2.v A dental bridge comprising at least one artificial tooth, a sleeveextending laterally inward from one side of said tooth substantiallyparallel to the biting surfaces thereof and completely contained in saidtooth, a plunger slidably mounted in said sleeve, said sleevesubstantially preventing lateral displacement of the plungerl therein,resilient means in said sleeve normally urging said plunger outwardly,means on said sleeve to limit the outward movement of said plunger, acup to receive the outer end of said plunger, said cup preventinglateral displacefment of the plunger therein and means rigidly mountingsaid cup, 3. kThe combination set forth in claim 2 which the means tolimit the outward movement of `said plunger comprises a pin in saidsleeve extending substantially7 radially inward and said plunger has anannular groove .to receive the inner end of said ,pin` 4, A dentalbridge to be mounted in a gap between apair of abutment teeth, saidbridge com-f prsing at least one artificial tooth, anchoring means ononesideof said tooth and rigid therevvith firmly to mount the latter to oneof such abutment teeth, a sleeve extending laterally inward from theother side .of said artificial tooth, substantially parallel 4to thebiting surface thereo f'andicompletely contained in said tooth, a lock--ing zmember slidably mounted in said sleeve, resilient vmea-ns in saidsleeve normally urging said .locking member out of said sleeve, means onsaid sleeve to limit the outward movement of said looking member, asecond anchoring means yadapted to be rigidly aixed to the otherabutment tooth and means rigidly mounted `with respect to Isaid secondanchoring means to receive .said locking member-and to prevent lateraldisplaeementof said artificial .tooth with respect to such otherabutment tooth.

5,.A dental bridge to be mounted in a gap between a pair of abutmentteeth, 4said bridge comprising at least one articial tooth,` an choringmeans rigidly aixed to one side or" said toothiirmly to mount the latterto one Zof such abutment teeth, .a sleeve extendingsubstantially-laterally-inward from the other side of said artificialtooth .substantially parallel to :the bitsv ing surface thereof andAcompletely contained in .said tooth, a plunger slidably mounted in said.slee-ve, said .sleeve substantially 'preventing lateral displacement.of the iplunger therein, a coil Vspring in :said .sleeve normallyurging said plunger outwardly therefrom, means Aon said sleevecto limitVIthe .outward movement of said plunger, a second ,anchoring fmeansadapted .to beaiiixed Vto the other abutment tooth and a cup rig-idlyaiilxed Awith .respect .to said second anchoring-meansto receivetheplunger, said .cup preventing-.lateral :displacement of the `plungertherein, thereby preventing. lateral displacement of said artificialtooth with respect to such second abutment tooth.

6. A dental bridge to Vbe mounted in a gap betweenza'pair of abutmentteeth, said bridge comprising at =least one artificial tooth, anchoringmeans rigidly ailixed to one side of said .tooth iirmly to mount thelatter to one oi Asuch vabutmentteeth,a sleeve extending substantiallylaterally inward from the other side of said artiy iicial toothsubstantially parallel to the biting surface 'thereof and completelycontained said tooth, a plunger, having an annular groove therein,slidably mounted in said sleeve, said sleeve substantially preventinglateral displace, ment of the plunger therein, a coil spring in saidsleeve normally urging said plunger outwardly therefrom, a pin in saidsleeve extending substantially radially inward into said annular grooveto limit the outward movement of said plunger, a second anchoring meansadapted to ,be aiiixed to the other abutment tooth and a cup rigidlyafxed with respect to said second anchoring means to receive theplunger, said cup substantially preventing lateral displacement of theplunger therein thereby preventing lateral displacement of said.artificial tooth with respect toV such second abutment tooth.

'7. The combination set forth in claim 6 in which the -Width of saidannular groove in said plunger, the thickness of said pin and thelocation `of the latter in the sleeve are so related that with the outerend of said plunger in its most ad.- vanced position said outer end ispositioned in both the cup and the sleeve.

8. A dental .bridge comprising at least one ar- .tiiicial tooth,anchoring means rigidly aixed to .one side of said tooth, a sleeveextending substantia-lly laterally inward from the other side of saidartificial tooth, substantially parallel vto the biting surface thereofand completely( contained iii-said tooth, a plunger slidably mounted insaid sleeve, resilient means in said sleeve nor.- maily urging plungeroutwardly therefrom. means .on said sleeve ,to limit the outward.movement ofsaid plunger, a second anchoring means and means aixed insaid second anchoring means to receive said locking member to preventlateral displacement .of saidartificial tooth with respect to saidsecond anchoring means.`

9. A ,dental bridge to be mounted in a gap lbetween a pair of abutmentteeth, said bridge 'oomprising rat leastone artificial tooth, acrownrigid ly Yaixedto oneside of .said artiieialtooth hrmly to mount thelatter to one of such abutment teeth, a sleeve .extending substantiallylaterally inward from .the other side of said artificial tooth,substantially parallel .to the biting surface there# of and completely,contained in said tooth, a plunger sldably mounted said sleeve,resilient means in said sleeve normally urging the Vplunger outwardlytherefrom, mea-ns .on said sleeve'to limit the outward movement of saidpiungerfa secendcrown adapted to be rigidly afiliiedfto such otherabutment tooth, and a cup aiixed-in saidseeondcrown adapted to receivethe plunger to prevent lateral 7displacement of said articial tooth withrespect to .such second abutment tooth.

IRVING QUnLLMarI.

vilte'ferences Cited in the iileof this patent UNITEDEQSLTES PATENTSName Date 832,528 Bennett Oct. 2, 1996 :155213702 Yalitis Mar. 22, 19272,227,735 Morton Iarr j?, wel 2,4%,5811 Reichner Deci, i949 FOREIGNPATENTS ZNumber Country fDate 138,689 Germany Jan. 25, 11905 '26S/,043Switzerland July 317-, 1959

